-lith

A stone or stony structure.

Greek lithos, stone.

Examples in which this ending refers to types of rock include regolith (Greek rhēgos, rug, blanket), the layer of unconsolidated solid material covering the bedrock of a planet; batholith (Greek bathos, depth), a very large igneous intrusion extending to an unknown depth in the earth's crust; laccolith (Greek lakkos, reservoir), a mass of igneous rock that has been intruded between rock strata, causing uplift in the shape of a dome.

Word in which the sense is of something constructed of stone include megalith (Greek megas, great), a large stone that forms a prehistoric monument or part of one; and monolith (Greek monos, single), a large single upright block of stone, especially a pillar or monument.

Other examples occur in the life sciences, including otolith (Greek ous, ōt‑, ear), a small calcareous body in the inner ear, involved in sensing gravity and movement; phytolith (Greek phuton, a plant), either a minute mineral particle formed inside a plant, or a fossilized particle of plant tissue; gastrolith, a small stone swallowed by an animal to aid digestion in the gizzard, or in medicine a hard concretion in the stomach.

For related adjectives, see the next entry.